Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC Invests $748,000 in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $748,000. BlackRock accounts for 0.6% of Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Financial Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in BlackRock by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 48 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 48.6% in the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock traded up $3.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $694.57. The stock had a trading volume of 200,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,271. The stock has a market cap of $103.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a current ratio of 4.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $703.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $681.77. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $503.12 and a 52-week high of $785.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.36 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total transaction of $1,525,611.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $741.00 to $781.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on BlackRock from $928.00 to $921.00 in a research report on Sunday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $767.69.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.